【英语语言学习】你恐惧什么

SCOTT SIMON, HOST:

This week we asked listeners and social media followers¹ to tell us about unusual things that may scare them. Not international terrorism or certifiable phobias, but real fears we carry around that some people may not understand. Many people told us that they run from moths² and butterflies, or shiver at the thought of glitter and cotton or can't bear to see the little eyes that grow out of old potatoes. Some answers though, were one-of-a-kind.

Mindy Valcarcel from Lubbock, Texas told us she's scared of Jupiter.

MINDY VALCARCEL: The moment I discovered I was afraid of it was when I found out that that great, big red spot that's a big storm that's never-ending, that three Earths could fit inside of, that is just terrifying. The thought of that - I don't even want to think about it.

SIMON: NASA says the great red spot is shrinking. Mindy isn't mollified.

VALCARCEL: Even, you know, if there's only two Earths at some point that fit in it, that's still scary.

SIMON: Sarah Collier of St. Louis says she's afraid of herself.

SARAH COLLIER: I am absolutely terrified that I will be unable to control myself when somebody puts their hand in the garbage disposal and I will turn on the garbage disposal and I'll horribly, horrifically maim³ that person, even though that has never happened to anyone that I know of, ever.

SIMON: Sarah Collier says when she sees a hand float anywhere near a disposal, you can practically hear the Hitchcock music.

(SOUNDBITE OF HITCHCOCK MUSIC)

COLLIER: I feel this, like, intense thrill of fear and I have to clench⁴ my hands just so that they can, you know, reassure⁵ myself that I am in control and I will not horrifically maim this person that I care about.

SIMON: David Saunders from Lancaster, Pennsylvania says that basements spook him. He thinks it comes from growing up in Florida, where houses often don't have them and when he saw them on TV, it was often because some ugliness was being hidden down there. Then when he was a teenager, his family moved north.

DAVID SAUNDERS: And the basement was unfinished and dark, there was no lights we're fairly certain when we moved in there that stuff had died in there. It smelled awful and it was my first experience with them and it was just really unnerving.

SIMON: Mr. Saunders is all grown up now, but still has to live with his fear of the subterranean⁶.

SAUNDERS: You know, I realize it's kind of a weird⁷ fear and whenever people hear about it, they always you know, kind of screw up their faces and look at me like it's just alien to them so I just say, I'm Florida. Weird stuff happens down there and we just leave it at that.

SIMON: My own rarely-stated weird fear is mashed⁸ potatoes. I could tell you why, but it wouldn't make you happier to know, now would it?

Whatever your little weird fear, we wish you a happy Halloween.

1 followers   

追随者( follower的名词复数 )； 用户； 契据的附面； 从动件

参考例句：

• the followers of Mahatma Gandhi 圣雄甘地的拥护者
• The reformer soon gathered a band of followers round him. 改革者很快就获得一群追随者支持他。

2 moths   

n.蛾( moth的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The moths have eaten holes in my wool coat. 蛀虫将我的羊毛衫蛀蚀了几个小洞。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The moths tapped and blurred at the window screen. 飞蛾在窗帘上跳来跳去，弄上了许多污点。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》

3 maim   

v.使残废，使不能工作，使伤残

参考例句：

• Automobile accidents maim many people each year. 汽车车祸每年使许多人残废。
• These people kill and maim innocent civilians.这些人杀死和残害无辜平民。

4 clench   

vt.捏紧（拳头等），咬紧（牙齿等），紧紧握住

参考例句：

• I clenched the arms of my chair.我死死抓住椅子扶手。
• Slowly,he released his breath through clenched teeth.他从紧咬的牙缝间慢慢地舒了口气。

5 reassure   

v.使放心，使消除疑虑

参考例句：

• This seemed to reassure him and he continued more confidently.这似乎使他放心一点，于是他更有信心地继续说了下去。
• The airline tried to reassure the customers that the planes were safe.航空公司尽力让乘客相信飞机是安全的。

6 subterranean   

adj.地下的，地表下的

参考例句：

• London has 9 miles of such subterranean passages.伦敦像这样的地下通道有9英里长。
• We wandered through subterranean passages.我们漫游地下通道。

7 weird   

adj.古怪的，离奇的；怪诞的，神秘而可怕的

参考例句：

• From his weird behaviour,he seems a bit of an oddity.从他不寻常的行为看来，他好像有点怪。
• His weird clothes really gas me.他的怪衣裳简直笑死人。

8 mashed   

a.捣烂的

参考例句：

• two scoops of mashed potato 两勺土豆泥
• Just one scoop of mashed potato for me, please. 请给我盛一勺土豆泥。